The startup offers smart home control hub through an AI chatbot

Source: Elvina Yang

Date: 2016/10/11

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The hassle of configuring various smart home devices can soon meet some solutions, including Amazon’s voice control assistant Alexa, Apple’s Home app and AI chatbots. A San-Francisco-based startup, Thington, has revealed an iPhone app which help users manage multiple connected home devices through text chats.

Instead of wandering through multiple setting choices, Thington simply asks questions to set up or control smart home devices, such as “Would you like me to turn some things off when everyone leaves home?” or “What can I help you with today? I can help you SET UP devices for your home or office.”

Through conversations, users can set up and control their home devices in an easier-understandable way. To interact with the chatbot, users also command as “Change the settings,” “Stop doing this,” or “Just leave it like this.”

Before, users might need to read through engineering languages, which is not easy to understand for most people, to understand how to setup and control their connected smart home devices. With Thington’s AI chatbot characteristic, the previous hassle can be transformed as simple as texting with a friend.

“You shouldn’t have to be a programmer to get the most from smart devices in your home. With the Thington concierge we’re working really hard to open up safer, more secure and more personalized homes of tomorrow to everyone – by giving everyone their very own smart assistant,” said Matt Biddulph, the co-founder of Thington, in an official announcement.

Besides letting users comply and control home connected devices, while working with a security camera, Thington will also send a photo notifications if there’s movement at home and everybody was out.

According to the startup, users can also share the control capability with their family members or friends. Users can add the contacts on the Guestlist and let them dim the lights or play songs while the guests are physically in the space. Once they leave the house, the control ability will not function anymore.

In addition to text messages, Thington also offers a control interface for users to manage their home devices through clicking buttons.

Thington, while the app is available to every iPhone users, now works with limited home devices, including six manufacturers Automatic, LIFX, Nest, Netatmo, Philips Hue and WEMO. According to the company, more manufacturers are expected to add supports to Thington.

Apple’s latest Home app also highlights its capability to be the one control hub for various home devices, by clicking buttons on a mobile app. Amazon’s Echo sees itself as a home hub which users can control home devices by talking. And Thington, opening up a new method, brings users’ control through text messages.